Travelers are facing flight delays at airports across the country as air traffic control employees work without pay during the ongoing government shutdown.
Staff callouts caused delays at Nashville International Airport on Tuesday, while Burbank Airport in California was forced to conduct air traffic control operations in San Diego on Monday, ABC 7 Los Angeles reported. Airports in Chicago, Atlanta, Newark, and other cities have also been impacted.
“We’re seeing an uptick in controller shortages across the country,” the Department of Transportation said on X Tuesday. “And where are the radical Democrats? Voting against giving our great controllers a paycheck. This is the last thing they need.”
A TSA spokesperson told The Daily Wire that travelers should have “patience” while flying during the shutdown, noting that the vast majority of TSA employees are considered “excepted or exempt” government employees who continue to work through the closure.
“While TSA is prepared to continue screening about 2.5 million passengers a day, an extended shutdown could mean longer wait times at airports,” a spokesman wrote.
But the potential for prolonged staffing shortages raises safety concerns as well.
“Aviation is the safest mode of transportation, but to maintain that the system may need to slow down, reducing efficiency,” Airlines for America, an industry trade group, said. The group added that it wants to see lawmakers “act with urgency and in good faith” to end the shutdown impacting their industry.
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“When federal employees who manage air traffic, inspect aircraft and secure our nation’s aviation system are furloughed or working without pay, the entire industry and millions of Americans feel the strain,” the group said. “We appreciate the men and women going to work, despite not receiving a paycheck, to ensure the safety and security of the traveling and shipping public.”
Airports could become the next flashpoint if the shutdown continues, with lawmakers from both parties using delays to press their opponents into a compromise.
“The Schumer Shutdown is crippling air traffic control operations in Nashville,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) told The Daily Wire. “Democrats need to stop putting the safety of traveling Americans at risk and join Republicans in getting our government back open,” she added.
Democrats, meanwhile, insist congressional Republicans and Donald Trump are responsible for the shutdown, which is now entering its second week.
“Thanks, [Trump]! Burbank Airport has ZERO air traffic controllers from 4:15pm to 10pm today because of YOUR government shutdown,” California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote on X Monday.
“The Democrat Government Shutdown has real-life consequences,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Daily Wire. “Each day Democrats drag out their government shutdown to push free health care for illegal immigrants, it’s everyday Americans — whether they’re trying to fly or use critical government programs — who have to pay the price.”
Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said during a press conference at Newark Liberty International Airport on Monday that he was there to “advocate for the end to the shutdown,” as the union advises controllers to continue working.
“I’m gonna leave the political discussions for the politicians during this shutdown,” Daniels said.
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